A Motorcyclist's Guide to Manta, Ecuador

Manta makes a great coastal stop on a motorcycle trip through Ecuador. Ride west out of the Andes and everything changes: the air gets warmer, the mountains flatten out, tropical vegetation takes over, and eventually the Pacific opens up beside the road.

Manta sits in the province of Manabí, one of Ecuador’s great coastal riding regions. Fishing villages, beaches, dry tropical forest, fresh seafood, and the Ruta del Spondylus give riders a completely different experience from the high Andes.

And if you like tuna, you have arrived in the right place.

Ride the Ruta del Spondylus

Ecuador’s Ruta del Spondylus runs along much of the Pacific coast and is one of the country’s great motorcycle roads.

Around Manta and southern Manabí, the route takes you past beaches, fishing towns, tropical forest, rocky headlands, and long views over the Pacific. You can ride for a while, stop for seafood, get back on the bike, and be somewhere completely different an hour later.

There is plenty to do once you park the motorcycle, too. Fishing, surfing, swimming, hiking, and wildlife excursions are all within easy reach.

Machalilla National Park and Los Frailes

South of Manta, Machalilla National Park gives riders a good reason to get off the motorcycle for a few hours.

The park protects coastal forest, beaches, wildlife, and marine environments along this part of Manabí. Hiking trails take you into a side of Ecuador that is completely different from the high-altitude landscapes most motorcycle travelers associate with the country.

The Pacoche forest area is known for its monkeys and tropical vegetation, and a guided walk gives you a chance to slow down and experience the forest on foot.

Los Frailes is one of the most beautiful protected beaches on Ecuador’s coast. It is a great place to park the bike, walk down to the water, and spend some time doing absolutely nothing before getting back on the road.

Farther south, Puerto López is another good stop. Humpback whales visit the waters off this part of Ecuador during the seasonal migration, making whale watching another option for riders traveling the coast at the right time of year.

Manta Is a Working Port City

Manta is not a little resort town built around tourists. It is a working Pacific port, and that is part of what makes it interesting.

Fishing boats come and go, markets are busy, trucks move through the port, and seafood is part of everyday life here.

El Murciélago Beach sits right in the city, with restaurants, shops, and the waterfront all close together. It makes Manta an easy overnight stop: park the motorcycle, clean up, walk to dinner, and eat very well.

La Balandra Hotel is one of the places we have used on our motorcycle tours, giving riders a comfortable base close to the waterfront.

Ride Over to Montecristi

Just outside Manta is Montecristi, one of the most historically important towns in this part of Ecuador.

It is closely associated with Eloy Alfaro, one of Ecuador’s most influential presidents, and it is also famous for the traditional weaving of fine toquilla straw hats — the hats the rest of the world came to know as Panama hats.

That makes Montecristi an easy side trip from Manta. Park the motorcycle, visit the workshops, meet the artisans, and see how the hats are actually made.

Why the Tuna in Manta Is So Fresh

Manta is one of the great tuna ports of the eastern Pacific, and there is a simple reason the tuna here can be incredibly fresh: the fishing grounds are close.

In many major tuna-fishing regions, boats may spend days traveling between productive waters and the port. Off the coast of Ecuador, productive tuna waters can be only hours away.

That means fish can move from the feeding grounds to Manta much faster than they can at many other major fishing ports.

You can see the result in the markets and restaurants.

Fresh tuna is everywhere, along with shrimp, dorado, octopus, shellfish, and whatever else came in with the boats.

This is also ceviche country. A good coastal ceviche, cold drink, and a table somewhere near the Pacific make a pretty good finish to a day on the motorcycle.

And this is one of the pleasures of riding Manabí: the food is connected directly to where you are riding.

You see the boats.

You see the markets.

Then you eat what came off those boats.

A Completely Different Side of Ecuador

If most of your Ecuador motorcycle trip has been in the Andes, riding into Manabí can feel like entering another country.

The cold mountain air is gone. The riding gear gets lighter. The vegetation changes. The roads run through fishing communities and farmland instead of high mountain valleys.

You trade volcanoes for the Pacific.

And that contrast is exactly why the coast belongs on a motorcycle trip through Ecuador.

Manta gives you a working port city, good hotels, fresh seafood, and an excellent base for exploring the surrounding coast. Machalilla and Los Frailes are nearby. Montecristi is an easy ride. And the Ruta del Spondylus keeps going in both directions.

You can include Manta on one of our guided motorcycle tours, work it into a self-guided tour, or ask us to include the Manabí coast in a custom route.

Ride down from the Andes, smell the Pacific, park the bike, and order the tuna.